1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to beverage insulators, and in particular to a highly conformable beverage container insulator that is capable of readily and accurately adapting to containers over an unprecedented range of container sizes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional beverage container insulators, commonly referred to as xe2x80x9ckoozies,xe2x80x9d are used to thermally insulate a hot or cold beverage and allow a user to comfortably grasp the container regardless of the temperature of the beverage and container. Such insulators are well known in the art. A few examples of conventional insulators are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,381,922, 5,653,124, and 4,577,474. Although each of these prior art provide good beverage insulation, they are specifically designed to fit beverage containers of a very limited size and shape and, thus, are not adaptable for different sized containers.
A few attempts have been made to overcome the adaptability limitations of these conventional insulators. For example, French Patent No. 2633-258-A, discloses an insulator that is very similar to the ""922 patent, except that it is formed from a material that is xe2x80x9csufficiently elastic to allow it to adapt to containers of different sizes.xe2x80x9d Although this French design probably has a very limited range of adaptability, it consists xe2x80x9c(1) of a thick thermal insulating material, and a base (2) of the same material.xe2x80x9d Such thick material may be flexible, but is unable to adapt to the shapes and sizes of a wide range of containers. Moreover, the base is sealed to the lower end of the body and greatly reduces the ability of the insulator to adapt at its lower end.
Another prior art insulator design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,895. This insulator is a complicated mechanism comprising an outer shell of resilient polymer, a harness for wrapping around a beverage, and an exterior cloth jacket which is sewn to the harness. In addition, the jacket is provided with a separate closure panel and carrying straps. Furthermore, the closure panel is provided with a stiff fabric retaining shoulder, an apron, and a drawstring at its upper end. Although this design is workable, it is unnecessarily complicated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,366 discloses a beverage container carrier formed with a sleeve-like casing and a flexible line formed in a loop extending through the casing. This design also has a number of features that significantly limit its adaptability to beverage containers of varying size. This prior art insulator may be saddle-shaped (FIGS. 1-2), or Coke(copyright) bottle shaped (FIGS. 3-4). The stiff ribbing along the upper convoluted edge of the first embodiment, and the very narrowly tapered neck of the second embodiment greatly limit the ability of insulator to adapt to the upper ends of non-conforming bottles. Moreover, each embodiment (and every other prior art insulator) has a closed lower end (FIG. 6) for supporting the bottom of a container, and is interlaced with a cord 12 extending through a large number of apertures in the body. Thus, a highly conformable beverage container insulator that is capable of readily and accurately adapting to containers over an unprecedented range of container sizes would be desirable.
One embodiment of a highly adaptable beverage container insulator is specifically designed for use with beverage containers having a fluid capacity of approximately one quart to 1.5 liters. Other embodiments of the insulator of the present invention are designed for smaller and larger size ranges of beverage containers. The insulator is tubular with open ends that are formed from two elastic panels. Each panel has straight top and bottom edges with elastic hems. The side edges of each panel are slightly curved to maintain the properties and proper appearance of the insulator. To form the insulator, two of the panels are joined along their side edges to form a tube.
The insulator is placed around a beverage container to better insulate the container and maintain the temperature of the beverage located therein. The insulator accommodates significant variation in the size and shape of beverage containers. For example, a smaller version of the insulator is readily adaptable to conform to both a standard twelve ounce soda can and to a ten ounce juice bottle. The panel construction of the insulator allows it to laid flat for easy stowage, and multiple insulators may be stored within a single insulator for better bulk management.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, in view of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, taken in conjunction with the appended claims and the accompanying drawings.